In a nutshell: Apple's Tim Cook is one of the most recognizable and well-known CEOs. But he rarely talks about his daily routine or life outside of the world's most valuable company. Now, Cook has revealed some interesting details about his day-to-day schedule, personal interests, and where he gets his incredible work ethic. He also revealed that an Apple Watch saved his father. Cook spoke to Table Manners podcast hosts Jessie and Lennie Ware when he was visiting London in December. He revealed that he still employs the hardworking values instilled in him as a child, which include waking up before 5 am to start work.Cook's early morning begins with answering emails. He says he responds to employees and customers, noting how several people from the latter group have thanked him after an Apple Watch saved their lives via its feature that detects irregular heart rhythm (atrial fibrillation).Cook also revealed that when his father was alive, the Apple Watch fall detection feature alerted emergency services when Cook senior fell over while alone at home."He didn't respond to the door and so they kicked the door down and it was a good thing they did because he was not conscious at the time."When asked if Cook's dad thanked him for the device that saved his life, he replied, "No, he was focused on the door, to be honest [...] He was more upset, 'they kicked out my door!'" // Related StoriesCook says the reason why he answers emails so early is because "it's the part of the day that I can control the most. As the day starts to unfold, it becomes less predictable.""And so I love the part of the day that I can kind of block out the world and focus on a few critical things and just be silent for a while."Cook also talks about how Covid changed the global view of working from home. Apple was one of the first companies to tell employees to return to the office after the lockdowns, leading to a petition from workers. Cook says Covid taught us that people can do the same amount of work online but also "taught us the value of being together."Apple now asks most employees to be in the office three days per week. Cook says he's in there four times a week and off Friday as it's the day most people stay home. He reasoned that the office is "depressing when nobody's there."Apple Park: pretty empty on FridaysCook has been working since he was 11 or 12, back when he started a paper route. His next employment was flipping burgers for a local fast-food restaurant, called Tastee Freez, at the age of 14. "I wore a little hat, and I wore an apron, and I was making $1.10 an hour at the time, it was sub-minimum wage, which was legal at that point in time."Cook has come a long way since then. His total compensation from Apple rose 18% last year to $74.6 million, making him one of the highest-paid CEOs in the world.Talking about some of the things he enjoys, Cook said he often eats at a Palo Alto restaurant called Ethel's Fancy, where he enjoys the octopus he eats a lot of fish in general.Other details Cook revealed include his love of dark chocolate and Chardonnay. He eats most of his meals during the week at Apple Park's Caff Macs, and likes to vacation at national parks. In the podcast tradition of asking guests about their last meal, Cook said he would choose an appetizer of hamachi crudo with jalapeo, a branzino for a main dish, broccolini as a side, and anything chocolate for dessert.